1. Technical Field
The present invention relates in general to an improved system for screen printing and embroidery and, in particular, to an improved system, apparatus, and method for both screen printing and embroidering a garment while it is mounted in a mounting hoop without having to remove the garment from the mounting hoop until both processes are complete.
2. Description of the Related Art
The design and appearance of garments may be enhanced by a number of methods or embellishments, such as silk screening, embroidery, or applique. Traditionally, only one of these methods is used in the design of a garment. However, some mixed-media designs that incorporate more than one method have become popular. Producing such mixed-media designs on garments can present a challenge when attempting to interface the different embellishments.
For example, garments that integrate both a silk screened feature and an embroidery design must be carefully aligned in terms of both centering and rotational alignment to achieve the desired effect. Unfortunately, the prior art systems used to silk screen a garment and those used to embroider the same garment are incompatible. This incompatibility requires the garment to first be silk screened, removed from the silk screen machine, mounted in an embroidery hoop, and then carefully positioned and aligned, by hand, in the embroidery machine before being embroidered. The manual positioning and aligning step is critical for ensuring precise integration between the silk screen feature and the embroidery design. Because of human error, it is also prone to be a significant source of increased costs in the overall process.
There have been several attempts to address this problem. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,144,899, to Allen, discloses a combination embroidery and screen printing apparatus and method. This device has an inner hoop that cooperates with an outer hoop for clamping and confining a selected area of a garment as a reproduction of a selected pattern is formed thereon. A framed screen forms a first portion of the reproduction on the garment by screen printing, a stitching machine forms a second portion of the reproduction on the garment by automated stitching, and an alignment template obtains close registration between the printed first portion and the stitched second portion of the reproduction. The framed screen and the alignment template are shaped and dimensioned so that each can be removably inserted in the inner hoop. In addition, a removable target disk is required with the alignment template to align the garment relative to the clamping hoops.
A more recent disclosure (Hirsch Shows New Multimedia Technology, eMB, Vol. 11, Iss. 3, March 2004, p. 14) describes a large, thin, flat oval frame that holds a garment during both the screen print and embroidery process. When screen printed, the frame sits in a recess in a platen on the screen printing machine to provide a flat surface for the printing process. When the garment is embroidered, flanges on the frame attach to specifically designed tubular arms on the machine so that no re-hooping is required. Although both of these designs are workable, an improved and more cost-effective system, apparatus, and method for both screen printing and embroidering a garment would be desirable.